New York: As his new alien flick 'Signs' hits the screens on August 2, India born screenwriter-director Manoj Night Shyamalan is being tipped as the next Steven Spielberg, going by the opinion at the previews, and a cover story devoted to him by a leading US magazine.

"I don't care about box office. I want to be a phenomenon where audience feels some connection," the lad from Pondicherry, described by 'Newsweek' as the "next Steven Spielberg" says.

His goal with movies is to "have a profound effect on the audience". At 31, Shyamalan is among the younger celebrities and highest paid screenwriter in the harsh, competitive and combative world of Hollywood.

Critics say 'Signs' is based on fresh ideas, in a season when most of the movies, which did well, were either based on old ideas or were sequels.

'Signs' is science-fiction thriller with strong family bonds- subjects that are dear to his heart. It is about a former priest played by Mel Gibson who loses his wife in tragic circumstances and thus loses his faith. His life begins to change when crops’ circles suddenly appear on his farmhouse, where he stays with his brother and children.

‘Newsweek’ says like all of Shyamalan's movies, 'Signs' is obsessed with the unknown, but with themes of family, parenting and self-renewal. The film, says the magazine, is shot with the "unmistakable admonition that we must draw whoever is near and dear to us even nearer."

Says his mother Jayalakshmi, a retired obstetrician, in an interview to the magazine, "I feel he should make nice movies. The latest thing – sex and that sort of thing-I’m not for it."

PTI